Celebrating Peter Murphy on his 68th birthday. —Ed.

I’ve never been much of a gothic rock fan. Why? For starters, I’m not deceased. Bela Lugosi may be dead, but I’m not. And I’ve never been big on humorless doom and gloom types. You know, the ones who spend their spare weekends looking into crypt rentals.

But Bauhaus, different story. A jagged-edged post-punk band with a guitarist who played barb wire, Bauhaus eschewed gothic atmospherics in favor of dissonance, feedback, and raw power. What’s more, there was nothing sepulchral about he-of-the-prominent-cheekbones Peter Murphy’s voice; he’s very much alive, and proof that the quick and the dead needn’t be two different animals.

1986’s 1979-1983 Volume One is more than just a compilation of a pioneering Goth rock band; it’s a landmark of the post-punk era, and demonstrates why Bauhaus’ music continues to inspire and influence a wide variety of musical artists. Rarely will you find a compilation without a weak track on it, but Bauhaus pulls it off with their voodoo potion of punk, dub reggae, and what can only be described as noise rock. (“Double Dare” sounds more like a song by Cows than one of Bauhaus’ English contemporaries.) It was this mélange of influences that led Murphy to describe Bauhaus as “more aligned to the Clash than anything else that was going around.”

On LP opener axe ace Daniel Ash and David J’s fuzzed-out bass produce a wall of distorted noise over a submarine ping and Murphy’s baritone vocal. I always think of goth rock vocals as cadaver chilly, but Murphy’s veer on spontaneous human combustion. He also comes close to self-immolation on the breakneck “St. Vitus Dance,” spitting out his words before breaking into some staccato screaming and a swell monkey imitation.

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Lulu Lewis is the NYC synth-pop duo of Dylan Hundley and Pablo Martin. They’ve released a pair of albums and a handful of EPs, singles, and remixes since joining forces and today they are premiering another track, “Sinner,” ahead of the summer edition of their Salon Lulu event series, which takes place this Sunday July 13 from 2-6pm at the club Berlin in Manhattan. There will be live performances by Liz Lamere and Lulu Lewis, Julia Gorton’s short film “Stacked Deck” and a hands-on boutique of locally made musical equipment named Gear Weird. “Sinner” is up to Lulu Lewis’ high electro-dance standard; check it out below, and if you’re local, do drop by Salon Lulu on Sunday. It’s sure to be a stone gas.

There is consistency in the sound of Lulu Lewis, but the music is solid enough in conception to allow room to branch out. Since formation, the duo (who often welcome guest contributors; for “Sinner” it’s Bruce Martin on bongos and bell) has offered a collection of dub remixes and a covers EP featuring songs by Roxy Music, John Cale, and Funkadelic, to name two offramps from the main stylistic freeway.

Courtesy of the opening synths, “Sinner” has a dark, tense cinematic edge; that is, it sounds like a pop song that was cut to accompany a film, in this case, a low-budget, high-energy action flick set on the streets of the old, dangerous NYC. The lyrics and Hundley’s vocal suggest a woman who has lost her faith (or never had it) and is out doing the dirty but necessary work of seeking justice and getting revenge.

We’re talking shades of Zoe Lund in Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45 and even the great Gena Rowlands in her hubby John Cassavetes’ Gloria, but we’re deeper into the 1980s with shades of a Golan Globus-esque exploitation vibe. The song is a bold synth-pop affair, but with a subtle rock undercurrent from Martin’s guitars. Hundley sings like someone who landed an unexpected opportunity and is making the very best of it by giving her all. Retaining a bit of that dub flair in the song is a sweet touch. If “Sinners” did land on the soundtrack to an ’80s action film, the song would very likely be the best thing about it.

PHOTO: JACKIE LEE YOUNG | I recently sat down with my former bandmate and friend, Jay Mumford. Jay’s career as a session and touring drummer has paired him with artists across multiple genres.

From Hermanos Gutierrez, to Danger Mouse, Lulu Lewis, Adrian Quesada, Vampire Weekend, Just Blaze, Dan Auerbach, Greyhounds, Madlib, Michael Kiwanuka, and many more. He’s also a co-founder and shares producer and songwriter duties with Pablo Martin (my partner) for their funk outfit, The Du-Rites.

Jay is on tour with Adrian Quesada with dates in August and September and played on Quesada’s Boleros Psicodelicos 2, which dropped June 27th on ATO Records.

There’s a new EP, “Tenement,” from The Du-Rites dropping this fall, and he’s back in the studio with Amsterdam-based keyboardist, producer, and arranger, Soul Supreme, working on new material. I recommend heading over to his Instagram to stay in the loop.

Radar features discussions with artists and industry leaders who are creators and devotees of music and is produced by Dylan Hundley and The Vinyl District. Dylan Hundley is an artist and performer, and the co-creator and lead singer of Lulu Lewis and all things at Darling Black. She co-curates and hosts Salon Lulu which is a New York based multidisciplinary performance series. She is also a cast member of the iconic New York film Metropolitan.

“Never in a million fucking years,” barks Big Special frontman Joe Hicklin in a thick Black Country accent, “Did I think I’d ever see your fucking face again!” Thus begins the explosive “Shithouse,” one of the most dazzling slices of pure invective to come out of an England that seems to be producing angry (and dazzlingly articulate) young men by the dozens.

Big Special are West Midlands duo Hicklin and drummer Callum Moloney, proud proles ranters and ravers dissecting the grim futility of life in that part of England that brought us the Industrial Revolution with songs that combine the blues, soul, spoken word, electronica, and rock, and are always bitingly, poetically funny.

The pair first played together more than a decade ago, but it wasn’t until Covid lockdown that they got together again and things clicked, leading to a critic-approved trio of EPs, the last of which, 2023’s “Trees,” is truly special. Big Special has since released two full-lengths (including the brand-spanking new National Average. (yes, with the period), but “Trees” is something truly extraordinary, and makes for the perfect, distilled-to-the-band’s-barking-angry-essence starting point for folks who want to suss out what all the fuss is about.

Big Special eschew the minimalism of a band they’re often compared to, the Midlands duo Sleaford Mods, preferring a wider palette, but the two bands definitely share a worldview—something’s rotten in the state of England, and the shite is definitely flowing the workingman’s way. “Trees” has it all—geezers smoking crack in the lobby, desperate breakfasts, the reek of petrol fumes, and all the futile quotidian carrying on of hopeless geezers “standing on a history of factory fodder.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | A Certain Ratio has announced details of the latest release in their reissue campaign: Live in America, a 10-track album that captures the exuberance of their 1985 tour of America. It will be out on vinyl, CD, and digitally on August 8, 2025, via Mute.

Originally available as a self-released cassette the band sold on tour the following year, the album compiles performances from ACR’s summer 1985 tour of North America with then (and current!) labelmates New Order when both artists were on Factory Records. The line-up documented on the album consists of Andrew Connell – keyboards, Donald Johnson – drums and vocals, Jez Kerr – bass and vocals, Martin Moscrop – guitar and trumpet, and Anthony Quigley – sax. That same lineup went on to release Force the following year, shortly before Connell left to concentrate on Swing Out Sister.

The band’s sheer joy in their performance is evidenced across the release, charting what sounded like an intense tour across North America only a few years into their career. They explain: “The tour was fun and we were very well looked after by New Order and especially Rob Gretton, New Order’s manager. Rob always made sure that we were well fed and watered and would fulfill any request we had. Sometimes the promoters wouldn’t want us to eat in the same swanky restaurants as New Order due to costs and because we were the ‘warm up’ act. When this happened Rob would just tell them that he would pay for ACR. He watched our performances every night and gave us his opinion on how he thought it went. He was one of our biggest fans, and we miss him dearly.”

Live in America was recorded at: Felt Forum, NYC; Opera House, Boston; Agora Theatre, Akron; Bismarck Theater, Chicago, and Warner Theatre, Washington DC. A Certain Ratio Live in America is available on August 8, 2025 on vinyl, CD and limited cassette. Pre-order HERE.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Many artists complain bitterly when they find their music being bootlegged—think of that famous footage (available on YouTube) of Neil Young walking into a Hollywood record store in 1971 to discover an unauthorized live album sitting on the shelves!

Melanie felt the same way. The latter part of her career was positively plagued by fans trading, selling, and posting online her unreleased out-takes and live shows, a flood that ultimately led her to authorize the wholesale emptying of her archive by Cleopatra Records for a marathon series of releases and bonus track-stacked reissues. But she also regretted never having been “properly” bootlegged—that is, having a concert pressed on vinyl, slipped into a plain white sleeve with photocopied art gummed to the front, given a bizarre title, and sold through the underground network of mom-and-pop stores that once proliferated. So we did it for her.

From The Banks of the River Effra—Crystal Palace 1972 was recorded at the Crystal Palace Garden Party in London and is released today resplendent with its own bootleg-style art insert, white label, and suitably obscure title. The River Effra is one of London’s so-called “lost rivers,” flowing through the area now occupied by the Crystal Palace site.

The gig was a truly heavyweight occasion. Melanie was a festival veteran by now; Woodstock in 1969 was followed by the Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970, Glastonbury Fayre and the Montreux Jazz Festival (also available from Cleopatra Records) in 1971, and many more.

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Remembering Ronnie James Dio, born on this day in 1942. —Ed.

There are 666 things you need to know about Ronnie James Dio.

1. Ronnie is widely credited as having invented the “Sign of the Horns.” Under patent law, you are legally obliged to pay Ronnie 15 cents every time you use it. Per hand.

2. Fact: In 2003 Dio lost part of his thumb to what he called a “killer garden gnome.” Afterwards Ronnie tossed the gnome in the trash, but it kept coming back. “It’s out there,” he would tell friends, peeking out the window. “Waiting. Just waiting.”

3. Ronnie was a big medieval music fan and used to get together with former Rainbow band mate and fellow medievalist Ritchie Blackmore to play flute, sing madrigals, and contract the Black Plague.

4. In a 1991 poll kindergartners were asked what historical personage they would least want to see added to the cast of Sesame Street. Ronnie James Dio came in next to last, just before Adolf Hitler.

5. Ronnie, who was 5′ 4″, was once quoted as saying, “I always wanted to be a basketball player.” He then added, “Preferably with the Delaware Dwarves.”

6. Dio’s first band was called Elf. The name led to a revolt in the Elven community. Haldir, Elf of Lothlórien, told his troops, “We must crush the man on the Misty Mountain before he joins Black Sabbath and lays waste to the band that bequeathed us “Fairies Wear Boots.”

7. The biggest difference between Dio and his predecessor in Black Sabbath was that Dio didn’t have a serious ant addiction.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “On April 1, 1995, I attended the Lighthouse Surf Band Reunion in Hermosa Beach. Having just moved to L.A. from the East Coast, I was still fascinated by Southern California’s ‘Kustom Kulture’—Rat Fink, George Barris, Fender guitars, and surf music. Surf tunes like ‘Wipeout’ and ‘Pipeline’ were the first songs I really learned to play, so this music has always been close to my heart. Seeing The Chantays, The Surfaris, Davie Allan, and others live was unforgettable—a memory I’ll always cherish. These sounds take us back to a simpler, more carefree time of cars, girls, beaches, and of course, SURF MUSIC!” —Elliot Easton, The Cars

On April 1, 1995, an unforgettable celebration of surf music history took place at the iconic Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach. Now, for the first time, this remarkable event will be available on vinyl, CD, and digital for fans around the world to experience. Legends of Surf Guitar captures a pivotal moment when original surf pioneers and revivalists joined forces to celebrate the music that defined a generation.

In the late 1970s and early ’80s, a new wave of surf instrumental revival bands—including Jon & The Nightriders, The Surf Raiders, The Malibooz, Los Straightjackets, and others—reignited interest in the genre, setting the stage for events like this. Building on the momentum from films like Pulp Fiction and a surge of surf-centric radio shows, producer/radio host Les Perry and surf legend Paul Johnson organized the Lighthouse Surf Band Reunion, creating a once-in-a-lifetime musical homecoming.

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The quartet Fuubutsushi began as a COVID pandemic-era project between Chris Jusell (violin), Chaz Prymek (guitar), Matthew Sage (piano), and Patrick Shiroishi (saxophone), recording remotely from long distances and amassing a robust body of work that combines aspects of jazz, ambient, folk, and classical. They are occasionally reminiscent of post-rock at its most adventurous and at other times give off a decidedly ECM Records vibe. Columbia Deluxe is documentation of Fuubutsushi’s first and only live performance, captured at the First Baptist Church of Columbia, Missouri during the Columbia Experimental Music Festival in November 2021. The set is available July 11 on LP and digital through the label American Dreams.

When the world dishes out creative roadblocks, artists will find a way to adapt. The COVID pandemic reinforced this, as scores of musical projects emerged, with Fuubutsushi amongst the most striking. The group came together at the beginning of the pandemic, and in short order, they recorded the tetralogy Shiki (四季). With the members based in different states, it was impressive how warm and together the music sounded.

In Japanese, the word Fuubutsushi is defined as the things that remind one of a particular season. The four sections that comprise Shiki (四季), Fuubutsushi (風物詩), Setsubun (節分), Yamawarau (山笑う), and Natsukashī (懐かしい) are based on a season. The sections were initially released separately and were compiled in 2021 as a 4CD set issued by Sage’s label Cached Media.

This box set would be an impressive enough achievement, but Fuubutsushi also released the nearly 25-minute digital-only track “Good Sky Day” in 2021 on the Longform Editions label, and after a break in activity, released Meridians, a 2LP set in 2024. Earlier this year, they issued a single-sided lathe cut 7-inch, “The Harmony of Irrelevant Facts,” in a limited edition of 100 through the Whited Sepulchre label (copies are still available through Bandcamp and the Whited Sepulchre website).

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BOSTON, MA | Grammy-nominated genre-bending Houston trio Khruangbin played to an eager crowd outdoors at Suffolk Downs on a cool summer night in New England. Matching the band’s unique and uplifting energy, fans came ready to be transported by Khruangbin’s ever-sharpening live show, celebrating the band’s improvisational prowess.

Suffolk Downs is home to an outdoor venue located East of Boston that benefits from the warm summer sun and cool ocean breeze. The show started as the sun went down and evolved into the night with a moody and intricate lighting display. Khruangbin took to the stage and delivered their unique blend of Middle Eastern guitar melodies, ’90s hip hop drums, reggae/dub bass, psychedelic effects, and disco long into the night with a nineteen-song setlist.

Fans dressed up as members of the band with wigs and in globally inspired outfits. Families with little children donned with ear protection were lounging on blankets in the grass. Concert attendees were indulging in the many food trucks which offered a range of options from ice cream, hot chocolate, grilled cheese, and pizza. Khruangbin has graced nearly every major festival stage in the world, including Glastonbury, Primavera, Coachella, and Newport Folk, and it was evident they were a perfect fit for this venue’s festival vibes. As part of their A La Sala tour, Khruangbin delivered a setlist composed mostly of songs from their latest release, but also delivered their well-known hits.

Although they have been touring in Boston since 2017, it was the first time seeing this band for many of tonight’s attendees. This setlist catered to both the die-hard and those newly added to this dedicated fanbase, which is continuously increasing in size. This tour aptly celebrates the achievements of this record, one that set out to capture “a desire to get back to square one between the three of us, to where we came from—in sonics and in feeling. Let’s get back there,” said Laura Lee Ochoa, bassist.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | [PIAS] Catalogue has announced details of the reissue of EELS’ 1998 album Electro-Shock Blues. This new edition will be released on July 25 and features the original track listing. It will be available on 140-gram solid blue vinyl.

Originally released on Dreamworks in September 1998, Electro-Shock Blues was the second album from Eels, fronted by Mark Oliver Everett, aka E. The album was produced by E with further production by Mickey Petralia and Michael Simpson of The Dust Brothers and recorded at E’s home studio in Echo Park, Mickey Petralia’s in Los Feliz, and The Dust Brothers’ in Silver Lake, California, between October 1997 and July 1998. Guests include T Bone Burnett, Jon Brion, Grant Lee Phillips, and Lisa Germano. Talking about the album, E said: “I had to fire another manager by the end of this one’s run. Hope you appreciate the effort.”

Electro-Shock Blues is the emotional centerpiece of Eels’ catalogue – a stark, beautiful exploration of grief, survival, and ultimately, hope. Written in the wake of tragic personal losses, it blends fragile melodies with raw, often darkly humorous lyrics. From the haunting opener “Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor” to the defiant closer “P.S. You Rock My World,” it’s a deeply human record that doesn’t flinch from life’s hardest moments.

This special 2-disc edition is pressed at 45 RPM offering upgraded sound from the original 10” 33 RPM edition and bringing new depth to its layered production. A landmark album of the late ’90s, Electro-Shock Blues remains a poignant, cathartic listen—as vital today as it was upon release.

Here are two Record Store Day releases now given a wider release from a singer-songwriter who defined that genre in the 1970s and one who rode the fiery comet of punk and new wave to take singer-songwriting to a whole new level, and who is still going strong today.

Cat Stevens was one of the central figures of the unequaled singer-songwriter movement that peaked in the early ’70s. Of Greek descent but living in England, Stevens created songs that were beautiful, passionate, and heartfelt bundles of emotions. His songs made up classic studio albums and some of the songs from the albums became massive hits, along with his reworking of Sam Cooke’s “Another Saturday Night.”

Stevens did not release any live albums in the US or England during his heyday. Saturnight, a recent Record Store Day 2024 release that originally came out only in Japan, is now available on vinyl. The proceeds from the original release went to UNICEF and the recording is of a concert held at the Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo on June 27, 1974. It comes in a gatefold jacket (and is also reissued on CD) and the release sometimes reveals another side of an extraordinary musical artist.

Stevens is supported here by a six-piece band and two backing vocalists. His overflowing talent and unbridled exuberance made his music more than just quiet, sedate, and cerebral mournful hymns. This exuberance is on display throughout this live concert recording, aided by a full band that adds just the right color and muscle when needed rather than drowning out his songs.

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Chris Stamey is a music scene long-hauler if there’s ever been one. He’s been making records for nearly half a century, and his new one, Anything Is Possible, is amongst his best work. Taking inspiration from lush 1960s pop, Stamey avoids the formalist nature of homage while being clearly indebted to the brilliance of Brian Wilson, whose “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)” is covered. Stamey’s originals have an unstrained, timeless quality, and the production basks in classicism without faltering into the overly labored. The guests include the Wild Honey Orchestra, the Lemon Twigs, Marshall Crenshaw, Pat Sansone, and Jennifer Curtis. The record is out July 11 on LP, CD, and digital.

As a member of the guitar pop elite of the Southeastern USA (but with time spent in NYC), Chris Stamey’s peers include the members of R.E.M., Don Dixon, and Mitch Easter, with the latter two contributing to this record. Perhaps most famous as a member of the seminal pop-rock outfit The dB’s alongside Peter Holsapple, Will Rigby, and Gene Holder, Stamey has also played with Jody Stephens and the late Alex Chilton of Big Star. In 1976, Stamey’s band Sneakers, very much under the influence of Big Star, released a 7-inch (since given an expanded reissue) with contributions from Rigby, Easter, and Dixon as producer.

Stamey has helped keep the post-Big Star power pop flame alive while releasing a bunch of solo records with an ever-increasing yet cohesive stylistic reach and working as a producer for a wide range of acts. Anything Is Possible’s opener “I’d Be Lost Without You,” a bold ’60s production pop nugget with clear ties to the Beach Boys and the Wrecking Crew, underscores Stamey’s continued ambition and the steadiness of his ideas.

The title track and “In a Lonely Place” represent the album’s grittier side, with the guitar amps turned up, but with the songwriting maintaining a high pop standard. Stamey might’ve been a young moth drawn to the undying light of hooky simplicity, but like Arthur Lee or Todd Rundgren or his contemporaries in Yo La Tengo, he’s undergone striking compositional development.

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